Kjettrup's scorching finish helps Florida State hold off Wake Forest for team crown in Valspar Collegiate

    Florida State strengthened its grip on the No. 1 spot in the Golfstat rankings with a four-shot victory over Atlantic Coast Conference rival Wake Forest, ranked third, in the Valspar Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Floridian Golf Club in Palm City, Fla.

   The Seminoles got a brilliant final round of 7-under-par 64 from Frederick Kjettrup, a freshman from Denmark, over the 6,921-yard, par-71 Floridian layout that enabled them to hold off Wake Forest for the team crown.

   Florida State was strong throughout, the Seminoles opening with a 5-under 279 in the first round of Monday’s double round and adding a 9-under 275 in Monday afternoon’s second round that left them trailing American Athletic Conference power Southern Methodist by three shots going into Tuesday’s final round. With Kjettrup going off in a round that included eight birdies and an eagle, Florida State closed with a 7-under 277 that left it with a 21-under 831 total.

   It was the third team title of the season for the Seminoles, a season that didn’t begin until January since the ACC kept its teams from competing in the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Florida State was coming off a runnerup finish to Oklahoma in the Cabo Collegiate at TPC San Antonio two weeks ago. The 16-team field had many of the top Big 12 teams as well as some invaders from the West.

   Wake Forest had opened with a 2-under 282 before firing a 10-under 274 in Monday afternoon’s second round that left the Demon Deacons in third place going into Tuesday’s final round, two shots behind Florida State and five behind SMU. Wake Forest closed with a solid 5-under 279, but was unable to catch Florida State as the Demon Deacons settled for runnerup honors with a 17-under 835 total.

   Wake Forest did take the individual trophy back to Winston-Salem as Alex Fitzpatrick, a junior from England and No. 24 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), recorded his first collegiate victory with a 12-under 201 total. Fitzpatrick, who, no doubt, spent the weekend rooting on big brother Matthew Fitzpatrick, who contended in The Players Championship, ripped off rounds of 4-under 67 and 5-under 66 in Monday’s double round that gave him a two-shot lead heading into Tuesday’s final round.

   Fitzpatrick’s final round of 3-under 68 enabled him to hold off the hard-charging Kkettrup and Ohio State’s Maxwell Moldovan, a freshman from Uniontown, Ohio, by three shots.

   Moldovan and the Buckeyes, out of the Big Ten, will likely improve on their No. 35 ranking as they rode a strong start to a third-place finish with a 14-under 838 total that left them three shots behind Wake Forest. Ohio State started with quite an opening salvo as it fired an 11-under 273 Monday morning. The Buckeyes backed off with a 1-over 285 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 4-under 280.

   The Pac-12’s Arizona State took a road trip to Florida and the fourth-place finish by the Sun Devils enabled them to improve their ranking from No. 7 to No. 4 before the week was out. Arizona State matched par in the opening round with a 284 and added a 5-under 279 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 4-under 280 that left the Sun Devils five shots behind Ohio State with a 9-under 843 total.

   American Athletic Conference power South Florida elbowed its way into the Golfstat Top 25 with a fifth-place finish in the Valspar, bumping the Bulls from No. 29 at the beginning of the week to No. 23. South Florida registered the low team round of the tournament, a sparkling 13-under 271, that gave them the lead over the loaded field following Monday morning’s opening round. The Bulls cooled off with an 8-over 292 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 282 that left them two shots behind Arizona State with a 7-under 845 total.

   A third ACC power, Clemson, finished two shots behind South Florida in sixth place with a 5-under 847 total as the Tigers dropped from ninth to 11^th in the Golfstat rankings. The Tigers opened with a 4-under 280 and added a 1-under 283 before matching par in the final round with a 284.

   Another team from the West, Pepperdine, finished a shot behind Clemson in seventh place with a 4-under 848. The Waves opened with an 8-under 276 before matching par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 284. Pepperdine closed with a 4-over 288 and saw its Golfstat ranking drop from No. 4 to No. 15. The Waves were ranked No. 1 by Golfstat when the pandemic forced college golf to shut down in March of 2020.

   Such was the competition in the Valspar that South Florida’s AAC rival, SMU, which held the lead following Monday’s double round, dropped all the way to eighth place in the elite 11-team field when it stumbled to a 15-over 299 in Tuesday’s final round. The Mustangs were so strong in the first two rounds, adding an 11-under 273 to their opening-round 278.

   But SMU lost its momentum overnight and its rough final round left the Mustangs two shots behind Pepperdine with a 2-under 850 total. They also saw their Golfstat ranking drop from No. 10 to No. 19.

   Kjettrup matched par in the opening round with a 72, a throwout for Florida State, before adding a 3-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round. That set the stage for Tuesday’s final-round explosion, the 7-under 64 leaving him three shots behind Fitzpatrick in a tie for second place with a 9-under 204 total.

   Backing up Kjettrup was veteran senior John Pak of Scotch Plains, N.J. and No. 3 in the WAGR. Pak opened with a 71 and added a 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing strong with a 4-under 67 that left him in a tie for seventh place with Arizona State’s Mason Andersen, a junior from Chandler, Ariz., and Pepperdine’s Dylan Menante, a sophomore from Carlsbad, Calif., at 5-under 208.

   In the week following the ACC Championship and before the NCAA regionals, Pak will be representing the United States in the Walker Cup Match at iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. against a Great Britain & Ireland team that will probably include Fitzpatrick. Pak and Fitzpatrick both played in the last Walker Cup Match in 2019 with Pak going 3-0 and helping the U.S., under captain Nathaniel Crosby, rally from a 7-5 deficit on the final day to claim a 15.5-10.5 victory at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.

   Brett Roberts, a freshman from Coral Springs, Fla., continued his strong play in his debut season as he landed among the group tied for 11^th place at 3-under 210. Roberts contributed respective rounds of 2-under 69 and 3-under 68 to the Seminoles’ strong showing in Monday’s double round before finishing up with a 73.

   Vincent Norman, a fifth-year player from Sweden, and Connor Futrell, a senior from Tallahassee, Fla., rounded out the Florida State lineup as both finished among the group tied for 22^nd place at even-par 213.

   Norman decided to take the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 stolen by the pandemic at Florida State after starring for four years at Division II power Georgia Southwestern. Norman contributed a 3-under 68 to the Seminoles’ strong opening-round showing before matching par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 and closing with a 73. Futrell added a 2-under 69 to an opening-round 71 before also finishing up with a 73 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Ohio State’s Moldovan got off to a fast start with a sparkling 5-under 66 in Monday’s opening round and a 2-under 69 left him two shots behind Fitzpatrick heading into Tuesday’s final round. Moldovan finished up with another 2-under 69 to share second place with Florida State’s Kjettrup at 9-under 204.

   SMU’s Mac Meissner, a junior from San Antonio, Texas and No. 21 in the WAGR, headed a trio of players tied for fourth place at 6-under 207, three shots behind Moldovan and Kjettrup. Meissner, the winner of the last American Championship contested in 2019 at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla., contributed respective rounds of 4-under 67 and 2-under 69 to the Mustangs’ strong showing in Monday’s double round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Joining Meissner at 6-under were Clemson’s Tank Pettit, a senior from Auburn, Ala., and Arizona State’s Ryggs Jonnston, a sophomore from Libby, Mont. Pettit opened with a solid 4-under 67 Monday morning and added a 1-over 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 68. After opening with a 73, Johnston matched Kjettrup for the low individual round of the tournament with a scintillating 7-under 64 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 70.

   Johnston’s Arizona State teammate, Andersen, was in the group tied for seventh place at 5-under along with Florida State’s Pak and Pepperdine’s Menante. Andersen added a 71 to his opening-round 69 before finishing up with a 3-under 68. Menante added a 4-under 67 to his opening-round 69 before cooling off in the final round with a 1-over 72.

   Colby Patton, a senior from Fountain Inn, S.C., gave Clemson two finishers in the top 10 as he rounded out the top 10 by finishing alone in 10^th place with a 4-under 209 total. Patton, the son of former Clemson star Chris Patton, winner of the 1989 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course, opened with a 2-under 69 before adding a pair of 1-under 70s in the final two rounds.